Uchiha Shisui was already covered by Katsuyu, his life and death still uncertain.
Not far away, Tsunade stood with her eyes closed, maintaining Katsuyu: Network Healing, continuously channeling chakra to the wounded.
Uchiha Fugaku stood at the very front, rapidly forming seals as huge fireballs slammed into the Eight-Tails one after another. But against its massive body, the flames could only slow it down for a moment.
The Hyuga clan shinobi had their Byakugan activated, searching for weak points on the Eight-Tails.
But the beast was simply too large.
Every sweep of its tail carved deep trenches into the earth.
"Kiyohara!"
Someone spotted him.
"Kiyohara's back!"
"Captain Kiyohara!"
The Konoha shinobi erupted in cheers.
Kiyohara gave a slight nod.
"Lightning Release: Great Snake Lightning."
After swallowing a few soldier pills, he formed hand seals, drawing even more chakra from his cells.
In an instant, a giant serpent wrapped in blinding lightning appeared beside him.
The lightning serpent opened its jaws and lunged forward, biting down hard on the Eight-Tails.
"GRAAAAH!"
The Eight-Tails let out a pained howl as dark red chakra and blue lightning clashed violently, sending out visible shockwaves in every direction.
Trees standing too close were instantly scorched black by the aftermath.
"Kiyohara!"
A sharp shout came from the side.
Tsunade shot into the air.
Her eyes were still shut, relying entirely on her senses to locate the Eight-Tails. She raised her right leg high, the fabric of her capri pants tightening around the curve of her thigh.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
Boom!
The mountain-splitting kick landed squarely on the Eight-Tails' back.
The impact shook the enormous beast, and the ground beneath it cracked and sank as rocks blasted into the air.
"Now's our chance!"
Uchiha Tekka and several other Uchiha formed seals at the same time.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Several giant fireballs roared out.
The Hyuga shinobi struck at the same time.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Led by Hizashi Hyuga, more than a dozen chakra shockwaves slammed into the Eight-Tails.
Shibi Aburame's kikaichu surged forward like a black tide, swarming over the Eight-Tails' wounds and devouring the tailed beast chakra leaking from them.
On Kakashi's side, a brilliant glow began gathering in his hand.
Blue chakra condensed there, but it wasn't the dazzling lightning of Chidori. It was a far more focused beam.
Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear.
It was a technique he had learned from Kiyohara, transforming Chidori into an extendable lance of lightning.
"Hah!"
Kakashi thrust it forward.
The blue beam instantly stretched dozens of meters and pierced into the Eight-Tails' body.
"Damn it!"
Inside the Eight-Tails, Killer B frowned.
He glanced around and saw that many Kumogakure shinobi on the outer edges of the battlefield had been thrown into disorder by Konoha's sudden assault.
Then suddenly, a figure appeared right in front of him.
Those scarlet Sharingan eyes were right there.
Three tomoe spun slowly, as if they could drag his very soul into them.
"!!"
Alarm bells exploded in Killer B's head.
Sharingan genjutsu!
At the last possible moment, he slammed his eyes shut and pulled the Eight-Tails' chakra into his mental world, forcibly scattering the ocular power that had already begun to invade.
"B, that was way too close!"
The Eight-Tails' voice thundered inside him.
"If you'd been one second later, this fight would've been over. That kid's genjutsu is terrifying!"
The Eight-Tails was deeply wary of Kiyohara now.
Cold sweat ran down Killer B's forehead.
He knew the beast was right.
"Yo… that almost got me killed, you dumb bastard…!"
Grinding his teeth, he forced down the shock in his chest.
"Then it's my turn!"
The Eight-Tails opened its huge jaws, and thick black liquid began to pour from its throat.
It was ink, created from its chakra.
In the blink of an eye, the battlefield was flooded by a black sea of ink.
"Great Ink Stream!"
Killer B's voice rang out from within the black ocean.
This was a sealing technique that could only be used in full tailed beast form.
The ink rapidly took humanoid shape and rushed toward the Konoha shinobi. Anyone caught by it would be completely dyed black and sealed within three seconds.
"Fall back!"
Tsunade's voice cut through the ink sea.
"Don't get close to the ink!"
Even with her eyes shut, she kept forming seals, and the giant Katsuyu began dividing further, using its body to shield any shinobi who couldn't retreat in time.
The ink slammed into Katsuyu's soft body, hissing as it corroded the surface.
But Katsuyu held firm.
Kiyohara stood at the edge of the black sea, staring at that ocean of ink.
Then he turned toward Rin behind him.
"Rin, use Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique with me."
Rin froze for a second, then nodded hard.
"Right!"
The two of them inhaled deeply, their chests swelling.
Rin also drew fully on the Three-Tails' power, pouring all that immense tailed beast chakra into the technique.
Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!
Boom!
Two enormous spheres of water burst from their mouths, colliding and merging in midair into a tidal wave.
The wave crashed forward with overwhelming force.
The instant it collided with the black ink sea, the ink was diluted and scattered apart. The humanoid figures formed from the ink were ripped to pieces by the current.
In just a few breaths, the sea of ink that had engulfed the battlefield was washed completely away.
All that remained was sodden ground and scattered traces of ruined ink.
Kiyohara didn't stop.
He formed another set of seals, chakra surging again.
This time, he made the Tiger seal.
"Sage Art: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Empowered by Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode, the attack's power climbed to yet another level.
Eight fire dragons roared out before him.
Each one stretched dozens of meters long, their scales formed from Fire Release chakra, their eyes burning with blazing white flame.
They spiraled and twisted through the air, then merged into a burning tornado that plunged toward the Eight-Tails.
The Eight-Tails raised a tail to block.
Sizzle!
Its outer hide blackened instantly under the flames, and dark red tailed beast chakra burst from the wound like blood.
Killer B let out a pained howl.
Before he could recover, a figure was already in front of him.
Bang!
Kiyohara threw a punch.
The Eight-Tails' massive body flew backward like a kite with its string cut.
It carved a trench a hundred meters long, smashing through several giant rocks before finally coming to a stop.
"Not done yet."
Kiyohara appeared above the Eight-Tails again.
He grabbed one of its tails with both hands.
Then he started swinging it side to side, smashing the beast into the ground again and again.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every impact shook the earth violently.
Shattered rock flew everywhere, dust filling the air.
The shinobi who had still been fighting all over the battlefield gradually stopped and stared at the scene in disbelief.
"T-that's…"
Uchiha Tekka stood there with his mouth open, unable to say anything.
Uchiha Shisui, still lying beneath Katsuyu's body, looked through the glow of healing chakra toward Kiyohara's figure in the distance.
"Kiyohara…"
He couldn't help feeling awed.
Kiyohara had just finished defeating the Two-Tails' jinchuriki, and now he was here fighting the Eight-Tails.
That kind of strength…
Shisui clenched his teeth and tried to activate his Mangekyo Sharingan again.
Chakra surged.
The three tomoe in his eye sockets began spinning and twisting together.
But the next instant, an intense dizziness struck his mind like a hammer.
Everything in his vision blurred, as though seen through frosted glass.
He could feel it clearly.
His eyesight… had worsened.
Only a little.
But it had definitely worsened.
"So this is… the price of the Mangekyo…"
Shisui frowned.
"Shisui!"
Tekka's voice came from the side as he rushed over.
"Are you alright?"
Shisui raised a hand and touched his eye.
His fingers came away wet.
Bloody tears.
"I'm fine…"
He shook his head weakly.
"Don't worry about me… go… go help Kiyohara…"
Tekka looked at him, then at the distant figure still brutally hammering the Eight-Tails, and gritted his teeth.
"Got it. You recover first."
He turned and waved toward the other Uchiha clan members.
"Everyone, support Kiyohara!"
Fire Release, shuriken, ninjutsu—
A storm of attacks rained toward the Eight-Tails.
But in front of that gigantic body, those attacks looked pitifully small.
The only one truly fighting it head-on was that lone figure.
Kiyohara.
He let go, and the Eight-Tails' body crashed down hard, blasting out an enormous crater.
Then Kiyohara rose into the sky.
He formed seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
A string of white smoke bursts exploded around him.
Twenty figures appeared at his side.
Twenty Kiyoharas. Twenty pairs of scarlet Sharingan.
At the same time, all of them raised their right hands.
Above each palm, black light began to gather.
Sage Art: Yin Release: Rasenshuriken!
Twenty black spheres formed at once.
Each sphere was black as ink, with only a pale white ring glowing around the edge.
Then twenty black suns fell together.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
One mushroom cloud after another exploded into existence.
Under Kiyohara's precise control, they hammered down one after another directly onto the Eight-Tails' head.
Shockwaves rolled across the battlefield.
"Defensive positions!"
someone shouted.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
Thick earth walls rose from the ground in front of the Konoha shinobi.
The Hyuga shinobi unleashed the Eight Trigrams Palm, building chakra barriers in front of themselves.
Katsuyu wrapped its body around the injured who couldn't escape in time.
The Kumogakure shinobi also unleashed defensive ninjutsu in succession, trying to shield themselves from the blast waves.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shockwaves slammed into the earth walls, making them shudder violently as cracks spread across their surfaces.
But in the end, the walls held.
When the dust finally cleared, the Eight-Tails' body was in ruins.
The tailed beast that had seemed as large as a mountain was now covered in blackened wounds. Dark red chakra leaked endlessly from them, while also slowly healing the ruined body.
Inside, Killer B lay there gasping for air.
"With rain like this… don't you think it's coming down a little too hard…"
Kiyohara remained calm, looking down at the Eight-Tails below.
If the Eight-Tails' chakra hadn't been desperately protecting Killer B, the so-called "Killer Bee" of Kumogakure would already be dead.
In the ninja world, stats decided everything.
No matter how ingenious the mechanics, without enough raw power to support them, they were just castles in the air.
Take Obito's Kamui, for example. Without the sheer numbers provided by Hashirama's cells, he would have gone blind after only a few uses, just like Sasuke.
But now, with Kiyohara's chakra reserves and the terrifying techniques he had mastered, his short-term output had reached a monstrous level.
As long as he didn't allow a tailed beast the chance to fully release a Tailed Beast Bomb, their danger could be suppressed to the minimum.
"B, run!"
The Eight-Tails' voice rang out in Killer B's mind.
"This guy… this guy is too dangerous!"
"No…"
Killer B shook his head.
He wiped away the blood on his lips—his organs had been rattled by the impacts.
"I can't run…"
Chakra surged again.
The Eight-Tails opened its huge jaws, and a black sphere began gathering deep in its throat.
A Tailed Beast Bomb.
Even at this point, it still refused to give up.
Looking down at the Eight-Tails gathering the Tailed Beast Bomb, Kiyohara's eyes showed a trace of approval.
The vitality of a tailed beast truly was incredible.
He raised one hand and pressed down.
The earth split apart.
Two huge sand-gold hands emerged from the ground and slammed into the Eight-Tails, pinning the gigantic beast to the earth.
At the same time, golden streams of sand crawled over its body, etching sealing patterns into its flesh.
"GUOOOAAAH!"
The Eight-Tails thrashed wildly, blasting apart one of the sand-gold hands with the half-formed Tailed Beast Bomb.
But the other hand still remained.
And the sealing patterns were steadily locking down its chakra.
The beast opened its mouth and spat the incomplete Tailed Beast Bomb toward Kiyohara.
Tailed Beast Bomb!
The black sphere roared toward him.
Kiyohara raised his left hand.
Green sage chakra surged from his palm, condensing into the head of a giant serpent.
The serpent head opened its jaws—
and bit down on the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Then Kiyohara swung his arm.
The black sphere shot away like a stone slapped across the horizon, flying deep into the mountains.
Boom!!!
A mushroom cloud erupted dozens of miles away, and the whole battlefield trembled.
Killer B's pupils contracted sharply.
He slapped away… a Tailed Beast Bomb?
How was that even possible?
Before he could process it, Kiyohara appeared directly in front of him.
This time, he was even faster than before.
Magnet Release: Magnetic Field Rotation!
The magnetic force of the earth surged into his body, raising his speed and strength to an even higher level.
That punch tore straight through the Eight-Tails' chakra cloak, punched through the beast's already ruined body, and landed squarely in Killer B's abdomen.
Pfft!
Killer B was blasted out of the Eight-Tails' body, thrown through the air, and slammed into the ground.
Blood poured from his mouth, staining the earth beneath him.
He blacked out on the spot.
"Bee!"
The Fourth Raikage's roar rang out from afar.
He turned and stared toward where Killer B had fallen, rage blazing in his eyes.
"Mabui!"
he bellowed.
"Use the Heaven Transfer Technique and get Killer B out of here!"
"But that technique can only safely transport objects…"
Mabui started to say something.
The technique couldn't normally be used on people, because the human body would be torn apart by the sheer speed.
But there was no other choice now.
Mabui began forming hand seals.
She knew this was their last chance.
As long as they could get Killer B out, there was still hope.
"Talking so openly about your plan right in front of me…"
A voice suddenly sounded at her ear.
"Don't you think that's a little rude?"
Mabui's body went rigid.
She turned her head.
Kiyohara was already standing behind her, those scarlet Sharingan eyes fixed on her.
Then one hand closed around her throat.
"Mmph!"
Mabui let out a muffled cry.
Before she even had time to struggle, she felt all the chakra in her body lock down.
"Mabui!"
The Fourth Raikage's furious roar shook the battlefield.
His whole body turned into a bolt of lightning as he rushed at Kiyohara.
Blue lightning crackled wildly over his body, his hair standing up on end.
Liger Bomb!
He leapt high, his right arm pulled across his chest, and slashed down toward Kiyohara.
At that instant, a streak of golden light appeared in front of him.
Minato Namikaze.
He answered with a Rasengan.
The Raikage's Liger Bomb slammed into the spinning sphere of chakra in Minato's hand.
While the two were locked in that clash, Hizashi Hyuga's figure flashed in from the side, and he thrust out one palm.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
The chakra shockwave slammed hard into the Raikage's side, throwing his balance off for an instant.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Uchiha Fugaku seized the opening too, sending a massive fireball roaring in.
"Monster Strength!"
Tsunade's figure surged upward from below, her right fist raised high as she smashed it into the Raikage's leg.
Crack.
The sound of bone fracturing was unmistakable.
The Fourth Raikage let out a muffled groan.
Grinding his teeth, he converted every last bit of chakra in his body into Lightning Release chakra, blue electricity erupting around him and cloaking his entire form.
Then he leapt, trying to break out of the encirclement.
But as his body rose into the air, he saw Kiyohara.
Kiyohara had already teleported above him, one step ahead.
Those scarlet Sharingan eyes stared straight at him.
The Fourth Raikage tried to shut his eyes, but it was too late.
Three tomoe spun in his vision, faster and faster, deeper and deeper.
Sharingan genjutsu.
His body froze in midair for the briefest instant.
And for Kiyohara, that instant was enough.
His fist had already landed.
Boom!
The Fourth Raikage fell like a meteor, smashing into the ground.
The earth exploded, rocks flew everywhere, and a crater dozens of meters wide opened beneath him.
He lay at the bottom, who knew how many bones broken, blood pouring from the corners of his mouth and his wounds.
It's over.
Kiyohara thought.
He landed at the edge of the crater and looked down at the Fourth Raikage, who had once seemed untouchable.
Then he lifted his gaze toward the Kumogakure shinobi still fighting across the battlefield.
"The Fourth Raikage has been captured!"
His voice, amplified by chakra, rolled outward across the battlefield.
"The Eight-Tails jinchuriki and the Two-Tails jinchuriki have both been captured as well!"
"Do you still want to keep fighting?!"
The sounds of battle began to fade.
The Kumogakure shinobi slowly stopped and turned their heads toward the crater.
At the bottom, the Fourth Raikage lay motionless in a pool of blood.
Far away, Killer B had collapsed into the dust, equally shattered.
~~~
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